Sports

It has been a successful introduction to Clare hurling so far for O’Callaghan’s Mills boss Donach O’Donnell with the Limerick native guiding his side unbeaten to the last four. It has been an impressive run for the Mills with victories over Broadford, Crusheen and Kilmaley making them one of the form teams of the championship so far. O’Donnell is pleased with the manner in which they have hit the ground running. “We are pleased to be there, and we are lucky to have such an honest and hardworking group of players. They are intelligent in the way they go about their hurling and they have been very open in what we have been trying to get them to do and working hard on it. Like any winter, we were starting off and getting to know them. We had a few weeks done before Covid hit and that was hard. Once we got back again, we were in smaller groups and …

This weekend will see Eire Óg contest the last four of the Clare senior hurling championship for the first time since 2003, as they renew rivalries with the defending champions Sixmilebridge. The Townies booked their spot in the last four with an impressive win over Feakle last time out in a game they dominated both on and off the field to lay down a marker of their championship intentions. Mattie Shannon’s side have regrouped since their opening round loss to Sixmilebridge to take down both Cratloe and Feakle, and now have their eyes on dethroning the title holders in what will be their third meeting in the last 12 months. Speaking after their win over Feakle, Shannnon was pleased with how his side took on that test and recovered from a slow start to run out comfortable winners. “We knew there was a big battle battle coming and our lads prepared very hard over the last few weeks. We had …

There are few hurling men in Clare as astute or experienced as Tim Crowe, so it is a given that Sixmilerbridge are going to be prepared and grounded for their shot at making it back to back Clare senior hurling final appearances. The last time the Bridge achieved that goal was in 2001, while 1993 was the last time they successfully defended the Canon Hamilton. Crowe outlined that the competitive nature of the championship in Clare means that putting titles back to back is a hugely challenging task. “We are delighted to be still in with chance of doing that, and it is something we have not managed in close to 30 years. It is a big task to defend the title in Clare, and only Crusheen have done it over that 30 year period. It is a big challenge, but one that we are prepared to take on and see where it takes us” he noted. Sixmilebridge will be …

Ballyea manager Kevin Sheehan may well have to plan without one of his key generals for this weekend’s crucial Clare SHC semi-final clash with O’Callaghan’s Mills. Gary Brennan is currently in a race against time to be fit for the game as he recovers from an ankle injury sustained during Clondegad’s defeat to Cratloe in the Clare senior football championship two weeks ago. Sheehan outlined that Brennan is struggling to be back on time for the game and rated his chances of playing as being “50/50 at best”. It would be a major blow to the 2018 champions as they prepare to take on arguably the form team of this year’s championship with the East Clare men impressive in their run to the last four. Ballyea have also not put a foot wrong in getting to this stage and Sheehan is pleased with how their season has unfolded so far. “We had built towards hopefully having a decent campaign in …

This one is a quintessential case of experience vs youth as a seasoned Kilmurry Ibrickane outfit who are well accustomed to this stage of the championship go up against a Lissycasey side who are relative newcomers to these heights. Both have come through their respective campaigns unbeaten with Lissycasey taking down Cratloe after an extra-time battle in the opening round before grinding out a workman like performance in getting over neighbours Kilmihil. John Ryan’s outfit also have the benefit of another real test in the lead up to this tie as they went all the way to penalties against Doonbeg in the O’Gorman Cup semi-final, and that is something which will have stood to Lissycasey because they are going to be tested to the limit once more this weekend. Kilmurry come into this weekend having taken down two of their fellow frontrunners for the championship with an impressive win over 2019 champions Miltown before a blistering start saw them send …

This is a game with several interesting side angles, but it will be ultimately what happens between the four white lines which will be the main concern for both. It will pit Clare senior football manager Colm Collins against his county selector in Declan O’Keefe with the former All-Ireland winner forming a crucial part of Donie Garrihy’s backroom team. Collins will also will come up against a number of players who form part of the Clare senior football squad with the likes of Alan Sweeney, Dale Masterson and Joe McGann all being central players for last year’s intermediate champions. The North Clare men have been foot perfect in terms of results so far this year with an opening round win over Cooraclare being followed up by an impressive victory over neighbours Ennistymon to seal their last four spot. No one will be more aware than Garrihy that the level of opposition they face this weekend will be the toughest of …

Newmarket manager Brian Enright is no stranger to working out how to prepare for big games, but he is the first to admit that 2020 has provided unique challenges. His cryotherapy business is among those that has taken a hit with the pause button that was pressed on sport during the Covid-19 lockdown meaning the rush for recovery in the traditional busy intercounty summer was absent this year. It also meant that teams had to face into their club championship campaigns without any league form behind them, and Enright outlined that not having those games to try out new players was not ideal. “It was tough because the plan at the start of the year would have been to blood in a few players. We have been in the last few finals and the team probably needed a bit of a shake up. We have not had the opportunity to do much of that so we are relying on a …

Inagh-Kilnamona captain Clare Hehir knows plenty about the big occasions, having played a key role for club and county over the last few years. 2019 was the first year since 2014 that Inagh-Kilnamona did not feature in the showpiece event of Clare camogie, with defeat to Scariff Ogonnelloe at the semi-final stage seeing them miss out on the big day. Hehir, a former Ashbourne winning captain with UL, admits that disappointment is something they tapped into this year. “It is great to be back here again because when you miss out on one, you realise how special it is to be in a county final. There is a real buzz around it so it is great to be back there again. What happened last year was all our motivation for 2020. We felt ourselves that watching Scariff-Ogonnelloe going on to win the county final and then conquering Munster that we began to start thinking about all the things we probably …